China defends arrest of men probing Ivanka Trump supplier

Deng Guilian, the wife of detained Chinese labor activist Hua Haifeng, speaks during an interview in Ganzhou in southeastern China's Jiangxi Province, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. The Chinese government rejected calls to release three activists detained while investigating a Chinese company that produced shoes for Ivanka Trump and other brands and sought to enforce a cone of silence around the men, according to a family member and lawyer who were interrogated and told not to speak to the foreign press. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

GANZHOU, China (AP) — China’s government on Tuesday rejected a U.S. State Department call to release three activists detained while investigating a factory that produced shoes for Ivanka Trump and other brands. It sought instead to enforce a cone of silence around the men, according to a lawyer and the wife of one detainee who was interrogated for hours herself.

The U.S. State Department on Monday called on China to release the men, who were detained last week after working undercover in a Chinese factory to check into worker abuses.

“We urge China to release them immediately and otherwise afford them the judicial and fair trial protections to which they are entitled,” said Alicia Edwards, a State Department spokeswoman. She said the U.S. remains concerned about “the pattern of arrests and detentions” and noted that labor activists are instrumental in helping American companies understand conditions in their supply chains and holding Chinese manufacturers accountable under Chinese labor laws.

Deng Guilian, the wife of one of the detainees, Hua Haifeng, told The Associated Press that she had been interrogated twice by police in her hometown in central China’s Hubei province. The police pulled her in for four hours of questioning that lasted past midnight on Friday, and then called her for a further interrogation on Saturday. She said police questioned her sharply about her contacts with foreign media.

She said that on Friday four policemen sat in a close circle around her, one asking questions, one examining her phone, one taking notes and one just staring at her.

“In a normal situation, as a woman at midnight squeezed in the middle of four men — moreover they’re policemen — it’s impossible not to be nervous,” she said. “I was terrified.”

Asked about the detentions Tuesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the State Department has made the U.S. position “very clear” and will “continue to exert the proper diplomatic pressure.” On whether the president or Ivanka Trump would comment directly, he said “it’s a State Department issue.”

A spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee criticized Ivanka Trump’s company for not speaking publicly about the detentions. Adrienne Watson said in a statement Tuesday that “Ivanka’s company should switch suppliers, and the Trumps should stop hypocritically telling corporations to ‘buy American and hire American’ while they continue to knowingly take advantage of workers’ abuses abroad.”

China has been cracking down on perceived threats to the ruling Communist Party, particularly from sources with foreign ties such as China Labor Watch, the New York-based nonprofit that was leading the investigation.

The group planned to publish a report this month alleging low pay, excessive overtime, verbal abuse and possible misuse of student labor at factories belonging to the Huajian Group. The company has denied the allegations and says it stopped producing Ivanka Trump shoes months ago.

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular news briefing Tuesday that the men working with China Labor Watch had been accused of using secret recording devices to disrupt normal commercial operations and would be dealt with under Chinese law.

“Other nations have no right to interfere in our judicial sovereignty and independence,” she said, adding, “The police found these people illegally possessed secret cameras, secret listening devices and other illegal monitoring devices.”

Hua Haifeng’s lawyer, Wen Yu, said Tuesday that all three of the activists are being held at the Ganzhou City Detention Center in southeastern Jiangxi province and that after a day and a half of waiting he was finally able to consult with his client Tuesday afternoon.

“His condition inside is OK. Nobody beat him,” Wen said. “It’s just that he has to sleep next to the toilet. People go to pee all night.” He said the cell was crowded with 21 people, who have been ordered not to speak with Hua.

The lawyer said he had applied for bail for Hua, who faces imprisonment of up to two years if found guilty. Then Wen was contacted by city authorities who told him not to speak with foreign media and he stopped responding to questions.

China Labor Watch executive director Li Qiang has said all three men, whom he lost contact with late last month, are not guilty and did not use secret recording devices. In an April letter to Ivanka Trump, he urged her to press for better conditions in her brand’s supply chain. “Your words and deeds can make a difference in these workers’ lives,” he wrote.

Ivanka Trump’s brand has declined to comment on the allegations or the arrests. She stepped back from day-to-day management of the company when she took on a White House role as adviser to her father, but retains ownership. Marc Fisher, which produces shoes for Ivanka Trump and other brands, has said it is looking into the allegations.

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Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey and Matthew Pennington in Washington and researcher Fu Ting in Ganzhou contributed to this report.